The senator’s family owned slaves and a Jamaican plantation, according to her father.
By John Friend
Reparations for slavery have quickly become a hot button political issue, with the House holding hearings on the topic last month and virtually all of the main Democratic candidates for president supporting the notion.
As we reported in a recent edition of this paper, bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to form a commission to study the concept of reparations for descendants of slaves.
Democratic leaders, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), support the concept, as do most rank-and-file Democrats. The topic has even become an issue in the presidential debates, with Democrats vowing to pursue the matter in order to bring “justice” to the African- American community.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), a contender for the 2020 presidential nomination, has repeatedly voiced support for “some type of reparations” for descendants of black slaves in America. Harris has condemned America’s “history of racism” and has argued that the government needs to “give people a lift up.”
Interestingly, Harris herself may actually be a descendant of slave owners, a fact she has not publicized or discussed. An article written by her father and published by Jamaica Global reveals that Harris’s roots can be traced back to Christiana Brown, a descendant of Hamilton Brown. Hamilton Brown was a plantation and slave owner on the island of Jamaica.
“My roots go back, within my lifetime, to my paternal grandmother Miss Chrishy (née Christiana Brown, descendant of Hamilton Brown who is on record as plantation and slave owner and founder of Brown’s Town),” her father wrote.
According to media reports, in 1817, Hamilton Brown owned hundreds of slaves. Most of them were brought in from Africa, though he also owned many slaves who were brought in from other parts of the Caribbean.
Harris has received criticism in the past, even from fellow Democrats and left-wing activists, by those who question the authenticity of her ties to the black community in America. She is, after all, a descendant of a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, both of whom were immigrants to America.
Some of her critics argue that she lacks an authentic connection to the historical black experience in America, a criticism also leveled against Barack Obama when he was running for president.
“Kamala Harris doesn’t have that [connection to black Americans and the historical impact of slavery] in her lineage,” Yvette Carnell, cofounder of the American Descendants of Slavery movement, argued earlier this year following Harris’s presidential bid announcement. “She’s anchored in two affluent, immigrant parents. It’s really simple.”
That hasn’t stopped Harris from attempting to identify with the black community in America or its historical grievances, which are dishonestly fueled by the mass media, Hollywood, and the educational establishment.
“I’m black, and I’m proud of being black,” Harris stated earlier this year following criticism expressed by those questioning her lineage. “I was born black. I will die black. I’m not going to make excuses for anybody because they don’t understand.”
Ironically, Harris may end up being among those responsible for paying reparations to descendants of slaves in America if the Democrats get their way.
John Friend is a freelance author based in California.
